Roofing product



June 4, 1935. T. ROBINSON ROOFING PRODUCT Filed sept. 1,2, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l T. ROBINSON RooFNG-PRDUCT June 4, 1935.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v Filed Sept. 12, 1930 Y MY x \L\ I t \J Patented June 4, `193.5

UNITED ls'rirrlezs mesmaJ nooma raonucr frhnms immun, Goldenbnage, Y.,A mi to Incaster Asphalt, Inc., New or'k, N. Y., a

corporation if Delaware Application september iz, 1930, sel-'m No. 1,412 'p z cnam. (c1. 10s-s) This invention relates to the manufacture of building products and is concerned more particularly with a novel building product made of a v hardened plastic material. The building product of this invention is particularly adapted for roofing purposes and a form of the product suitable for that purpose will presently be described in detail, though it is to be understood that the product may be made in other shapes and forms suitable for other purposes. i

,f The product of the invention is made of a hardened plastic substance which preferably includes a bituminous material and a binder. Asphalt is a bituminous compound well adapted for the purpose, the asphalt used having a melting point such that it is able to withstand solar heat. To give the finished product the necessary stiffness and strength, there isincorporated in the asphalt a quantity. of filling material preferably of a, fibrous character. This filling mate-I rial may be straw, paper, and other fibrous products of that sort to which, if desired, may be added a quantity of ground cork to give body to the mass without adding greatly to the weight,

and in some cases a proportion of mineral ma,

terial, `such as cinders, crushed slate, slate dust,

and the like, may also. be used for providing additional stiffness.

According to th/e new method, the building products are made by a continuous operation which involves producing a plastic mixture of 'the ingredients above referred to, sheeting out.

this mixture into afweb, applying a suitable surfacing material to the face of the web, and then cutting the web into units of the desired size and shape. In the manufacture of shingles which -are preferably made of taperingthickness from end to end, the sheet is formed with an irregular cross-section and in one form of the invention, a sheet of the plastic material is produced which is thinnest along its' median line and pf increasing thickness outwardly therefrom toward the side edges. After the formation of andapplication of surfacing material to this sheet, the latter is slit lengthwise to form two bands and the bands out transversely to form tapering shingle units. If desired,- the products may be provided with a reinforcementand for this purpose, I prefer to use a light weight felt which is 50. applied to the funder surfaceof Athe web during the sheeting out of the plastic material. This felt strip is incorporated into the face, of the plastic web and becomes an integral part ofthe finished material. p. 55 c The apparatus employed for the production of the new products includes a source of supply of plastic material which is delivered in soft moldable condition to sheeting rolls. Preferably the plasticmixture is discharged upon a conveyor by which it is passed between the `sheeting rolls 5 and the conveyor forms part of a continuous movable mold which supports to plastic sheet throughout the successive operations and until the web is delivered to the' cutting devices. Associated vwith the sheeting rolls are suitable de- 10 vices for frictioning` the surface of the web to make it smooth, means for applying, if desired, an adhesive film to the surface of thelweb, and means for distributing surfacing material on the web and embedding particles therein. l l5 For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, in which s Fig. 1V is a view of the apparatus used for the production of the new material, certain of the 20 parts being illustrated diagrammatically and others in cross-section; f

Fig. 2 is atransverse sectional view through the apparatus on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of 25 1318.2:

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1; f s

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective illustrating the action of the cutting apparatus:

Fig. 6 is a plan View of a single vroofing element of, the invention;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of a multiple roofing ele 35` ment constructed in accordance with the invention;- and s LFig. 10 is a .view similar' to Fig.'5 illustrating `the cutting of multiple shingle units. s

Referring now to the drawings, the new b uild- 40 ing material in the form of an individual or sin# gle shingle isiilustrated in Figs. `6 and 7. lThis shingle consists of a body t0' having a surfacingl Il of suitable mineral, such as crushed slate or 'other products commonly used for the purpose. `45 l The bodyof the shingle is of generally rectangular shape and it is composed of hardenedplastic material, preferablyv asphalt and a nlling mixture including ingredients v above mentioned." The plate is of tapering thickness from one end to the other and its butt end i2 is undercut so that when the shingle is laid with` othersdn the usual overlapping courses, the inclined surface' of .the

`butt gives the impression of greater thickness than is actually the case. The under surface of the shinglehasv portionsl in two oiIset planes,l`

side of the shoulder does not result in the upper surface of the shingle sagging when laid. The shingle may be provided with a reinforcement Il in the form of a band of fibrous material such as light weight felt which is aflixed to the under surface of the shingle and mayextend from the thin edge up to a point slightly beyond the central portion of the shingle, or omitted entirely when relatively stiff plastic mixtures are employed. A dotted line in Fig. 6 marks the edge I4' of the reinforcing sheet Il. The side edges I5 and the rear or thin edge of the shingle overhang from top to bottom; that is, each edge slopes inwardly and downwardly from the top of the shingle toward the bottom. This shaping of the edges is produced during the'formation of. the shingle and. provides each shingle with the maximum grit ,surfaced area, while reducing `the amount of plastic substance used in the shingle.

In the manufacture of the shingles. the apparatus illustrated conventionally in Fig. 1 may be employed. 'I'his apparatus includes a conveyor in the form of a plurality of mold carriages generally designated I1. Each carriage consists of a plate I3 having axlesfIS projecting therefrom at the ends vand carrying wheels which run on rails 2|. Adjacent carriages are connected to.- gether by links Illa to forman endless chain. The rails 2| are arranged in pairs and through. out a part of the path of travel of the conveyor, the rails 2 Ia lie in such position that the conveyor Icarriages are supported with the'plates I8 uppermost, while through another part of the path of travel of the conveyor, the rails 2lb support the conveyor with the carriage plates I8 downward.

Each plate I8 is provided with a pair of spaced knife edges 22 extending across the plate in the direction of conveyor movement Land the knife edges have innerfaces 23 sloping to conform to the undercut butt ends I2 of the products to "be made. On the face of each plate between the knife edges 22 is a mold plate 24 which has its greatest thickness at the middle of the plate i3 and tapers in thickness from its median line toward the knife edges 22 on either side thereof.

The carriages travel 'in a closed path in a vel'-v tical plane and the path has upper and lower horizontal stretches. The carriages are advanced by means of pinions 25 on a driven shaft, which mesh with racks 26 on the under surfacef each carriage. In the horizontal stretches, the car- 'riages.

riages lie with their adjacent ends in close contact so as to provide a continuous receiving surface on which the molding operation is carried out. In order to insure that the under surface of 'it and also to prevent adherence 0f the plastic material thereto. If desired, a cleaning device such as a brush or the like may also be employed to remove adhering material. The b elt is preferably somewhat narrower than the distance betwen the knife edges 22 on the carriages and .assists in the formation of the shoulder I3 on fibrous substances, ground cork, cinders, and the like. Assuming that fibrous material alone is to be used, this material is cut up into relatively ne condition by a suitable chopping machine and the asphalt is broken up to the desired size in any convenient manner. The pulverized asphalt and the chopped fibrous material are then combined and reduced to a homogeneous plastic condition .by 'being subjected to a successipn of shearing operations, alternating with agitating and mixing. The materials are preferably introduced into a chamber in which there are rotating knives which cooperate with stationary knives to perform a shearing action, and the asphalt and iibre are thus reduced to a fine state by the successive shearing operations, and-the heat generated thereby softens the asphalt and rendersit plastic.

The plastic material received from shearing apparatus is delivered to a hopper 3 I, from which it is discharged upon the. belt just in front of rollers 32a and 32o. The upper roller 32a lies above the connected carriages which vform the movable mold surfaces and this roll is slightly longer than the distance across a carriage between knife edges 22 so that the rolllbears against the knife edges. 'I'he lower roll 32h bears against the under surfaces of the carriages and thus supportsthe carriages during the application of pressure which performs the sheeting operation.

The lower roll is slightly shorter than the distance between the racks on the under surface of the' carriages. By this construction, the carriages and supporting rails are not subjected to the pressure of the rol1er.32a in the sheeting operation but are supported by the fixed roller 32h. The surface ofthe roller 32a is preferably heated, for instance. by burners 33.

The plastic material fed from the 'hopper into the bight of the rolls is sheeted out so as to form a web having a fiat upper surface as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The web is oftapering thiclnessfrom the median line outwardly toward the side edges and the side edges are undercut.

When a reinforcement or stiening sheet is to be applied, the reinforcing material 35 is drawn from a supply and passed under a guide roller 33 which directs it to apositicn on top of the carriages so that the plastic material is discharged on top of the reinforcement and the latter is incorporated in the web by the action of the pressureA rolls 32a and 32h.

The plastic web advances from the pressure rolls to a roll 3'I heated in any convenient manner, as by burners 38, and bearing against the surface ofthe web with a yielding pressure. The roll 31 is driven at a higher rate of speed than the :web and it frictions the surface ofthe web, making it smooth. Also, the hot roll causes the asphalt in the web to soften and come to the surface, forming acoating on the surface of the web which covers any parts of the filling material which might otherwise be exposed. If desired, the frictioning roll may also be used for the application of a film of adhesive to the surface of the web and when so used, a hopper 39 is placed above the roll 31 to hold a supply of coating material 40 in contact with the' surface of the roll 31. Asphalt is preferably employed for the purpose and it is introduced into the hopper in the form of chunks of substantial size. The heated roll 31 coming in contact witl the chunks of asphalt picks up a lm which is then applied to the surface of the web.

If the plastic sheet is to be given a coating or surfacing material such as crushedslate, the surfacing material is placed in a hopper 4I at the lower end of which is a distributing roll 42 by which a shower of the particles is discharged on the surface of the web. Beyond the hopper 4I are pressing rolls 42a, 42h, for causingthe particles to be partially embedded in the surface of the web or in th'e adhesive coating when the latter is employed.

Beyond theA embedding rollers the plastic web supported on the belt 28 is carried away from the mold carriages and delivered to cutting devices 43, which have different forms according to the products to be produced. As illustrated, the lower cutting device 43a. is in theform of a cylinder having knife edges 44 vmounted thereon, the knives cooperating with a smooth surfaced upper roll 43h. For the manufacture of single shingles, the devices illustrated in Fig. are employed in which the roll 43a is provided witha circumferential cutting edge 45 which slits the web'lengthwise along its median line and longitudinal knives 44 which cut the two bands of material produced by the slitting operation into individual units III.

To make multiple units, such as that illustrated in Fig. 9 and designated 46, the lower roll 43a is provided with the circumferential knife edge 45 and longitudinal knife elges 41. .Multiple shingles are preferably provided with notches 48 along one edge so that these elements when laid in overlapping courses in the ordinary manner have the appearance of individual shingles. These notches are produced by knife edges 4S 1 mounted on the cylinder 43a near the ends thereof.- All the knife edges used for slitting and cutting purposes are of the scoring type and they produce lateral and butt edges I5, I2 and I6 on the units which slope downwardly and inwardly from the top surface thereof. The units severed from the web by the cutting edges are either ccmpletely detached one from another or else they are so deeply scored that they may be readily separated by a workman. The units are stacked and bundled together in any appropriate manner ready for shipment.

With the method and apparatus of the invention, there is a continuous succession of operations involving the preliminary 'sheeting out of the p`astic material to form a web having a crosssection appropriate for the production of the final products. This web is advanced continuously to the devices for nishing the surface, including the application of grit, and then cut into units of any desired shape. By this method, the material may be produced at a low cost and a relatively high outputrate and the new products are much cheaper than the ordinary prepared roofings now in wide use due to the fact that themain body of the elements is made up of asphalt and filling material instead of rag felt which is relativelyexpensive. Also, the new products being made of plastic material may be given any desired shape and size without diiculty and may have a substantial thickness whereas ordinary felt roofings are usually quite thin and are .objectionable for that reason. y

What I claim:

1. 'A roofing element which comprises a platelike body of hardened plastic material, said body having its sides and butt edge undercut, a stiifening rib formed in the body of said plastic material extending transversely of the body along the butt edge and on one surface of the body only and a reinforcing web of fibrous material on the said surface extending from side to side and from the front edge to slightly beyond the central portion of said surface, said web being permanently united to the said body.

2. A roofing element which comprises a nia-Pn like body of hardened plastic material, said. -body having its sides and butt edge undercut, a stiffening rib formed of said plastic material and integral with the body arranged to extend along the butt edge on one surface only, a reinforcing web of brous material on said surface extending from side to side and from the front 'edge to slightly beyond the central portion of said surface and spaced, cut-out notches extending inwardly from said butt end.

THOMAS ROBINSON. 

